Leadership Comm. 9

Hey Team,

I'm busy reading a great book by two UK pastors called Total Church and it is an outline of some thinking and attempts to 'do church' differently. Part of what God has been leading me to think about and strategize towards is how will we as PVFC do church differently. It's not that old is bad, but timely methods presenting an ancient message is what the Bible teaches and what the church needs in this post-modern world. Most churches are doing things the way they worked a century back – but this world is totally different and we've got to live differently for Jesus to be effective as his agents in this post-modern environment.

Total Church talks about gospel centred communities where people feel welcomed but challenged by the message of the crucified Jesus. The authors note that what tends to happen is that churches head into one or other of the paradigms: some churches present a strong gospel message but are weak on relationships (many mainline churches are in this category, we go to church and hear good messages but we don't talk to each other) and other churches are strong on the relational aspect but weak on truth (Emerging churches operate like this, with poor teaching but high value is placed on relationships)

We're often presented with an either-or option. But it is a both-and: we must seek real relationship with unbelievers and believers alike and we've got to be built around the gospel contained in the Bible that is well summed up by Paul writing to Timothy: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15 ESV   

I believe there is something different about us. Week after week I have people raving about our congregation and what God is doing in our midst. This makes me excited because worldwide disillusionment with the church is high, and by God's grace we seem to be getting some things right. On Sundays we have truth filled worship and, gospel centred preaching. During the week we have well led and warm communities who gather and study the scriptures together and share life with each other.

By God's grace we are becoming a gospel centred community who value both the truth of the gospel as well as the depth of relationship that leads to a world changing church. I am blessed to be part of this family and my prayer for all our leaders is that you would take this call seriously to follow Jesus, to teach about Jesus, to lead others towards Jesus that we might become the church that Jesus has called us to be.

Blessings,

Brent

Preachers and preaching

I've been re-reading Martyn Lloyd Jones book 'preachers and preaching' I read it very early on in my ministry and  thought that Lloyd Jones made too much of preaching. In my training I was pushed to think pastorally and instead Lloyd Jones extolled the great virtue and power of preaching. So 7 years later I re-read the book and find that I have changed my focus a LOT. In a pastorally driven ministry preaching is one of the things we are called to do but our energy and time are consumed far more with caring for the flock. This is not a bad thing – but it misses the point of Jesus ministry.

Preaching is central to the churches mission of making converts and disciples. A gospel driven church will focus much more on preaching because it is the proclamation of God's word for salvation. Paul said "I preach Christ crucified". And in many churches worldwide this is no longer the case. We need to return to spirit filled preaching of the gospel and stay away from either prosperity based self fulfilment theology or pastorally driven therapeutic theology. When we preach these kinds of messages its hard to get passionate and to be moved by God and used by God to move others. My desire is for the church to return to preaching the gospel of Jesus with passion and enthusiasm to Jesus glory!

The problem with the world is sin and preaching points sinners to the author and perfecter of faith – Jesus! Lloyd Jones book is older than me, but is still so relevant today. Here is a great quote from Lloyd Jones

"What is Preaching? Logic on fire! Eloquent reason! Are these contradictions? Of course they are not. Reason concerning this Truth ought to be mightily eloquent, as you see it in the case of the Apostle Paul and others. It is theology on fire. And a theology which does not take fire, I maintain, is a defective theology; or at least the man's understanding of it is defective. Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire. A true understanding and experience of the Truth must lead to this. . . . A man who can speak about these things dispassionately has no right whatsoever to be in a pulpit; and should never be allowed to enter one.
What is the chief end of preaching? . . . To give men and women a sense of God and His presence. . . . I can forgive a man for a bad sermon, I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me the sense that, though he is inadequate himself, he is handling something which is very great and very glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God, the love of Christ my Saviour, and the magnificence of the Gospel. If he does that I am his debtor, and I am profoundly grateful to him. Preaching is the most amazing, and the most thrilling activity that one can ever be engaged in, because of all that it holds out for all of us in the present, and because of the glorious endless possibilities in an eternal future."

Sermon: Solomon's prayer

If God asked you what you wanted, what would you answer? Solomon seeks wisdom so that he might lead God's people well. This is a challenge that God would gift us to serve his people and the world for Jesus fame.

Click here to listen or click on the title of this posting.

Sermon: Revelation and the new creation

Revelation is a great book, but we get caught up in the irrelevant details. The big questions are where will we spend eternity and who will be there. The big deal is that Jesus is there!

listen to it here.

Sermon: Jesus meets a sinful woman

Jesus meets a sinful woman and turns religious peoples world upside down. Are you religious? Perhaps your world needs to be turned upside down by Jesus too!
Listen to it here.

Leadership comm. 8

Hi Team,

So we've learned about being authentic and excellent so let me add a third item to the growing list:

Gracious

[gray-shus] –adjective

1.Abounding in love and mercy.

2.Produced by divine grace; influenced or controlled by God

The Grace of God given through Christ Jesus is the defining difference between Christian faith and other religions. When we miss out on grace we become moralistic at best (which helps us to live better lives but requires no faith) or legalistic at worst where we believe that good acts win favour with God, but good acts cannot save us from death. Only Jesus can and the Bible tells us God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 ESV Let me remind you of this simple saying "Grace is those undeserving getting things from God that they cannot earn."

As leaders of various ministries we need to be focused on sharing with those around us the grace of God given through Jesus. The moment we expect people to earn God's favour we will no longer be pointing them towards Jesus. Jesus has already won the Father's favour for us, we do not need to do this!

The example that I have found myself often seeing is with Sunday School over the years in various churches. The kids that are there every week we reward, those that attend poorly we don't. Whilst it's important to honour those who have done well, we must be careful not to undermine Jesus grace. I think we face this conundrum in counselling the broken, preaching God's word, leading homegroups and almost every time we deal with some other person, who like us, is sinful.

It's all, always about Jesus and his grace shown to sinful humans!

Blessings,

Brent

Letter from the General Secretary

I had forwarded this to the elders some time back, but catching up on some reading and doing some reflection I was reminded of this recent letter from the General Secretary of one of the denominations to which we belong.

____________

Dear Friends,

Grace and peace to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. I trust that this New Year has started for you on a highly positive note. Indeed 2010 is going to be an exciting year for South Africa exploding in celebrations as we host the World Cup. The bigness of this event is certainly going to affect all of us including Zimbabwe and Zambia in some way or the other no matter what our views may be of the event itself. I personally am drawn to the fact that something big is going to happen! I must confess that oftentimes as I think about the Church, I hope that something big is going to happen: that millions are going to come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour, that the Church is going to have a huge impact in its proclamation and witness in the world and many are going to come streaming into the Church. I wonder is this just a dream? As I look into the UPCSA whilst there are so many things to celebrate and give thanks for yet it seems that in certain circles we have lost perspective of the big picture and purpose of the Church. We see fragmentation and divisions brought about the conflict in the Associations, the sense of congregationalism that tend to pervade our churches, struggling Presbyteries and congregations torn by strife and conflict. We need to be drawn into our actual purpose again. So what do we need?

Firstly, we need to come back to the core purpose of the Church. It is so easy to loose focus, perspective and energy. We need to come back to the purpose of our existence as a Church which is summarized for us in the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19-20: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." The UPCSA Mission Statement is very clear on this as it calls us to "Bear witness to Jesus, Build up believers in faith, love and obedience and (to) Be faithful in all relationships in life. We need to align and measure what we do in our congregations to this Statement at all times to ensure that together we are moving in the same direction as we seek to remain faithful to our Triune God . We exist because of Jesus Christ! Our purpose is to proclaim Him to the world so that they may also believe. Secondly, we need to have vision, commitment and responsibility. Whilst I do not fully endorse what goes on in some of the mega charismatic churches that surround us, I must admit that I am often moved by their sense of vision, commitment and passion. They are not afraid to think and do big things for God because they flow in the view that God is Big. I am reminded of the vision that the prophet Isaiah had in the Temple in chapter 6. He was overwhelmed by the presence of God. His vision took on a three-fold perspective: (1) He saw God in all His holiness and splendour, (2) He saw his own sinfulness, and (3) He saw the sinfulness of the people (community) around him. He was so moved that he responded to the call of God: "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" with the immediate response: "Here am I. Send me!" We need to restore commitment and passion which gives each of us in the pew the responsibility to work for Jesus wherever we are, not leaving it to the minister and elders. This is the only way in which we are going to meaningfully impact the world with the Saviour's love. Thirdly we need to think beyond our local church. Now don't get me wrong I believe in the local church and I know that mission really happens through the local church, and I give thanks to God for the many faithful and flourishing congregations we have in our denomination, but what concerns me is the lack of desire to have a vision beyond the local church, in some places and ministries. Jesus' call was to the Kingdom and what we need to be encouraging is Kingdom ministry. Such ministry calls us to engage with the community in which we are found and to provide ministries that enable us to relevantly speak the presence and love of Jesus into that context. We also need to link up with the work of the  Presbytery and that of the General Assembly. It means affiliating with the wider work of the denomination  rather than becoming exclusively congregation focused as if ministry begins and ends there. There are many ministries that take place on the denominational level through the various committees, Associations and structures in our Church. As congregations you need to find those places in which you could be involved. How can you give life, effort and form to our three denominational Mission Priorities: Evangelism and Mission, Stewardship and HIV and AIDS?

It is a joy and delight to know that many Presbyteries and congregations are starting to take a greater interest in the work of the wider denomination and I want to personally commend and affirm such initiatives. Equally I would like to encourage those who are lacking in this area to prayerfully consider how they can become a part of the whole Church. Let us positively ask how we can work together as a Church to the glory of God. I was jolly pleased to discover when we were drawing up the 2010 budget late last year that a little more than 50% (R3,5m) of our total Budget (brought in mainly by assessments) is really given back to congregations. We often work with the assumption that all of this money goes into the running of the Central Office. After some 24 years in parish ministry and now serving in the Central Office, I have come to dispel this much held belief, for myself, because for the first time I was able to see where the money really goes and who the real beneficiaries of the UPCSA's income are: congregations!

The biggest slice of our Denominational Budget goes toward the selection and training of ministers to serve congregations, providing grants for congregations to be able to have a minister, church development, holding workshops and conferences to encourage and empower ministries to benefit ministers, elders and congregations. The balance of the Budget goes towards the work of the Assembly Committees, the running of the Central Office and its service to the denomination, the holding of General Assembly/ Executive Commission, etc. It is the kind contributions of congregations, most times under really trying circumstances, that enables us to bless other congregations who cannot afford to have ministers and maintain ministries. I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation on behalf of the UPCSA to congregations who faithfully pay their assessments so that the rest of the Church may be blessed. This is, indeed, a Kingdom focus! By the end of 2009 we had allocated and, in most cases, disbursed about R 4 m given to us by the Council for World Mission (CWM) to congregations and Presbyteries for projects in line with our Mission Priorities.

Let me get back to where I started. We need as a denomination to impact this world with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are to be successful in doing this then we need to have a fresh vision of God, ourselves and the world. If we are to be a denomination of any influence in Southern Africa then we need to work together to the glory of God. Rick Warren in his book, The Purpose Driven Community says, "We are better together! And together we can do more [for Jesus]. This is my appeal to us as a Church. We tend to focus on things that separate and divide us internally so much so that we are diverted from the real purpose of our existence as a Church. We need to be prepared to work together rather than work against each other which, by the way, the devil enjoys. It's time we give the Glory to God! It's time we focused on the Kingdom of God! I trust that would be your desire, prayer and action! 

Jerry Pillay

General Secretary

Leadership comm. 8

In Leadership Comm 7. I spoke to you about being authentic that all that we would do would be the real deal and that we'd be true to who Jesus has called us to be. Let me share with you another ethos point that works alongside authentic:

excellent

   [ek-suh-luh nt] –adjective

1.possessing outstanding quality or superior merit; remarkably good.

2.Archaic. extraordinary; superior.

Excellent does not mean perfection, but it does mean doing what we do well and to the best of our ability. Paul writes to the church in Corinth: 2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. It is about doing the best we can with what we have been given by Jesus. We are called to glorify Jesus in everything – that is our mission and purpose of existence and when we do something less than excellently we do a disservice to him and his work in the world.

A synonym for excellent is diligent and the bible has these instructions: teach your children diligently about worshipping God (Deut 6), We're called to diligently discipline our children (Prov 14:24) We're called to work diligently so that God would bless us (Prov 10:4, 12:24, 13:4) and we're called to seek holiness diligently (2 Pet 3:14)

Jesus does everything excellently. In the Bible Jesus gets offered two kinds of wine on the cross: the first is mixed with myrrh which had a narcotic effect and would save him from some of the pain – yet he refuses so that he could endure it for us. The second was sour wine, a vinegar like substance that tired laborers would drink because it was refreshing and reviving. Jesus takes this so that he would be fully aware of what he was working out for us on the cross. Jesus is the kind of God who is worth doing everything to our utmost for, because that is how he has saved us.

If we do things well it says that we think Jesus is worth the effort of spending time and effort to serve with excellence. Sometimes an attitude of slackness can creep into the things we do: not just church things but everything – this quality should pervade all of life! Sure we'll make mistakes and mess things up and at points we'll let things slide because of tiredness. But we'll do the best we can because Jesus is worth our best. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Blessings,

Brent

Interesting post about mediocre churches and pastors

http://arbevere.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-about-mediocre-churches.html

 

Wow – love this...perhaps our denomination should wake up. Whist we don't guarantee appointments, a great deal of our pastors are mediocre and a great deal of our churches have lost any sense of mission.

Pick your Bible translation well...

There are a great many translations of Bibles out there some good, some not so good. It is worth having a number of translations when you are studying the Bible, and many are available for free online.  I regularly use the English Standard Version (ESV) the New International Version(NIV) the King James Version (KJV) the New Living Translation (NLT) and occasionally The Message wen I am studying.  Biblegateway has more than 12 different English translations available and you can use it to easily compare texts.

As I was studying today for Sunday's sermon I came across an unhelpful translation in the NLT which is a good and readable version, but is not a literal translation and it loses some of the original intended meaning. The ESV is a literal translation of the Greek as much as is possible with the variances of the English language. Compare the NLT below to the ESV:

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT   For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV   For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

But the key issue is not just that Jesus became a "sin offering" but that he became totally and completely sin for us – hence the Fathers forsaking him on the cross – that is how entirely Jesus takes our sin from us.

Again the NLT translates as "be made right with God" where the original is much more emphatic – we don't just become right, we become THE righteousness of God. And it is that in God's eyes we become entirely, completely, gloriously right with him in every way.. For those who want to delve a little deeper it's called imputed righteousness.

The point is pick your translations carefully. The NLT and The Message are good reading bibles but should never be used for study.

Leadership comm 7.

In Leadership Comm 6. I spoke a little about ethos – HOW we will disciple, reach and serve for Jesus. As I have been studying and reflecting on these things I want to share with you some of where God is pushing me to lead our church. So here is the first of the ethos values we all need to build into our personal life and witness as well as into anything we do as ministry within the church.

authentic

   [aw-then-tik] –adjective

1.not false or copied; genuine; real: an authentic antique.

2.having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified: an authentic document of the Middle Ages; an authentic work of the old master.

3.entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable; trustworthy: an authentic report on poverty in Africa.

  

I really believe that for us to be effective witnesses in this world as we follow Jesus that we must be authentic in everything that we do. But what does that mean? Well at its heart authentic is to be the real deal in everything that you do. In our community in Protea Valley it is all too easy to create a mask and to hide the real you. I believe that this value adds to the reality our witness as we live life for Jesus and it makes our ministry effective for his kingdom.

Paul is being authentic when he writes this: Romans 7:15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. That's authentic, a kind of: "here is the answer on how we should live life for Jesus, but I struggle alongside you as I try to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling". Too often we paint a fake picture of Christian faith: that following Jesus is easy, that understanding the scriptures is straightforward and that to believe like a child is all we need to do.

Let me tell you story and I do so not to blow my own trumpet, but to show you what authentic looks like as I am trying to live it out by God's grace: Just this week I sat with a person who I will call Hope who has come to PVFC from time to time. I say 'come' instead of 'worship' because Hope does not believe in Jesus, yet. She is engaging with me to answer some very tough questions that she has about the reality of God. She wants authentic answers to deep and genuine questions that are keeping her from faith at this time. What has drawn her to PVFC and, by God's grace, to me is authenticity. I am normal and not weird, I ride bikes and climb mountains, I accept Hope with her questions and I too wrestle to find the truth. I have engaged my brain and don't gloss over the difficult answers to the evil that pervades this world. In short as I try to be authentic she has responded to it and I pray that in time she will find faith.

In a world of fake, people are looking for authentic. And we have the only authentic savior, Jesus who, according to those who knew him and wrote about him, died and rose again so that we might be forgiven of our sin. Let's present Jesus in an authentic way as much as possible. Practically this will look different for different people and for different ministries, so think and engage with Jesus. Pray lots, live by the Spirit, let God's word abide in you and then be authentic for Jesus glory!

Blessings,

Brent

Church Membership

We've tried quite hard at PVFC to make membership importance because the bible has many implicit and explicit instructions around membership. Hence we expect our new members to attend two information evenings and to be interviewed by an elder.

 

Whilst everyone is free to worship and even participate in many ways in the community, there is something profoundly important to belonging, to committing and to fellowshipping with the community. It's important at some levels to know who has committed to the team and who has not. If we're tackling issues like ministry to the wider community, following Jesus in a relevant yet biblical way and if we're intended to leap out in faith and start building, then we've got to have people who are committed to being part of the team and who will have our backs when things get tough.

 

John Piper is one of the great Christian pastors and thinkers at the moment and in this video he makes some really worthwhile comments around membership.

 

PVFC proposed new church building fly through video

PVFC proposed new church building

OK so we're heading towards a new building God willing. On Sunday at Pentecost we'll show the video fly-through...but here are some still shots of the building...man this exiting times and we're praying that God would help us to raise the money! He got us the land and I am convinced that he will deliver according to his great mercy.

Community: Icing or Cake?

By Brad House

 

Perspective is often limited by experience. Have you ever had an experience that opened your eyes to what you have been missing? For me, it was sushi. I can't believe I went over thirty years before discovering this perfection of Japanese fast food. Sushi, however, is not a necessity of life; it is simply "icing on the cake." But that begs the question, what then is the cake? In our lives we often settle for lesser things because we are unaware that there is more to life. Sometimes we settle for cake without icing; sometimes we even settle for less than cake.

 

C.S. Lewis observes our propensity to settling for the false promises of sin because we have never experienced the joys of Jesus. In his book The Weight of Glory he says:

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

 

What struck me about Lewis' point was that he was not suggesting that making mud pies was normal and that going to the beach was icing on the cake. Life through Jesus is the baseline for normal. Life with Jesus is the cake! In other words, when we choose not to follow Jesus, we choose less than life. In  Ephesians 2:5 Paul makes it clear that apart from Jesus, we were dead–not simply missing out on some icing.

 

This was bouncing around my head as I was thinking about the 40% of people at our church  who choose not to attend a Community Group. I have been offered many explanations on why someone is making this decision during this point in their life. Most of these point to an understanding of community as icing on the Christianity cake–seeing it as a bonus to the Christian life rather than essential to it.

 

This is a fundamental mistake. Life in community is essential to being a Christian. We are created in the image of God who himself exists in community. We are relational beings intended for community. Through community we are sanctified and image the Trinitarian nature of God. This isn't icing. This is the eggs and sugar that combine with the salvation through Jesus to make up the cake of Christian life. Normal is life in Jesus lived out in the community of the church. When we choose to go it alone, we are choosing to subtract from the Christian life.

 

Don't subtract from your walk with Jesus. Community is a gift of God for your joy and His glory. I want you to experience the fullness of life in Jesus. Join a Community Group today and have your cake and eat it, too.